He played an important role in the development of synthetic plant hormones, which then became the basis of much of the agricultural chemical industry.

[citation needed] Funded by donors, Went constructed a series of greenhouses at Caltech in which he could vary light conditions, humidity, temperature, air quality and other variables.

In 1949 this led to him to construct a large new complex of climate-controlled rooms called the Earhart Plant Research Laboratory, also known as the "phytotron.

In 1958 Went was appointed director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and professor of botany at Washington University in St. Louis, at a point where he had become a world recognized authority on plant growth.

After the opening of the Climatron, the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse, Went's vision of a renewed Missouri Botanical Garden eventually came into conflict with that of its board of trustees, and he resigned as director in 1963.